Spring-Smith hands Donley Ford first defeat of the season

Wednesday

Jun 7, 2006 at 1:00 AM

Doug Haidet

By DOUG HAIDETT-G Sports WriterLong layoffs may not take away a baseball teams ability to hit, but they sure can can do a number on the execution of fundamentals.More than two weeks since its last real game action on the diamond, a 14-3 win over Spreng-Smith in Ashland Youth Baseball ABC play, Donley Ford was able to put up 13 hits Tuesday.Unfortunately for Donley, a solid all-around effort from Spreng-Smiths Tyler Daniels, combined with a host of mistakes on the defensive and offensive sides of the ball, helped Spreng-Smith hand Donley its first loss of the summer, 12-7 at Brookside West.Donley matched Spreng-Smiths four-run first-inning output and took a 7-5 lead after three innings, but some greedy baserunning led to an out in three straight frames for Donley (2-1) on offense, and Daniels three-run homer over the fence in left-center field in the fourth inning served as the game-winner.The baserunning blunders that we had didnt help, said Donley coach Paul Adams, whose team also finished with four errors. And in the field we kicked the ball around. It was all around a bad game.Playing against Daniels didnt help, as he struck out seven and walked just one on the mound, not allowing a run after the third in his complete-game effort. He also added two singles to his home run production with the bat, finishing with four RBIs and two runs.As soon as he hit that thing you could just tell it was gone, Spreng-Smith coach Scott Eagle said of the homer. I think that sparked us. And Tyler pitched a very good game. He went right at the people he needed to.Matt Dilgard (three runs) and Kyle Hungerford (two RBIs) each added two singles for the winners as well.Ethan Donley had the best overall day at the plate for either team, putting together a 4-for-4 effort at the plate for Donley with a pair of RBIs and runs scored. Logan Adams (run) and Josh Fredrick (double, run) both chipped in multi-hit games for Donley as well, but Spreng-Smith (3-2) scored in five of the seven innings to put the game away.We started hitting the ball, Eagle said. We havent hit the ball real well in the past couple games. When we scored those four runs quick you could tell things were going well.And though Donley had a four-run first as well, a little game-playing rust seemed to hold it back.Its been a while since weve played, so its been hard to try to get in a groove, Adams said. But weve got three games this week, so if we dont get in a groove after that, we wont.The teams match up again today at Brookside West.SPRENG-SMITH HITTERS: Matt Dilgard (2-1b), Jake Eagle (1b), Tyler Daniels (2-1b, HR), Jordan Coy (2b), Cody Hickey (1b), Kyle Hungerford (2-1b), Evan Hartnett (1b).DONLEY FORD HITTERS: Josh Fredrick (1b, 2b), Jody Erickson (1b), Logan Adams (2-1b), Ethan Donley (3-1b, 2b), Michael Maneese (1b), Logan Emser (1b), Coy Gibbons (1b), Thomas (1b).Spreng-Smith4013031 12 11 3Donley Ford4030000 7 13 4WP Tyler Daniels (so-7, bb-1).LP Ethan Donley (so-6, bb-3).RECORDS Spreng-Smith 3-2, Donley Ford 2-1.n Contact Doug Haidet, sports writer, at 419-281-0581, ext. 245, or dhaidet@times-gazette.com.